


Halloween party

by Sophia73



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 04:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26347129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia73/pseuds/Sophia73
Summary: The Aang plans a get together for the Gaang but Toph and Katara also have a halloween party later so they take everyone with them.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Kudos: 7





	Halloween party

The Gaang Halloween  
By Sophia

“Katara are we almost there?” Toph asked   
“No, not yet,” I said going back to working on my dress. Aang had invited Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Suki and I to spend a few day’s at the air temple with him. I picked up Toph after I left the north, Sokka was picking up Suki and Zuko was coming on his own. It had been 4 years since the war, and we never spent time together anymore. We all saw each other but we never got to just have time to ourselves these days. Aang was spending most of his free time working on restoring the temples, Zuko was fire lord, Sokka was learning how to be chief, Suki was training girls for the kyoshi warriors, Toph worked on her metal bending school, and I taught water bending at the north pole, and when there are water benders in the south than I will go teach there. I spent lots of time at the swamp and was their representative at meetings. Most times it was only me and Sokka, so he was there for the south and I was there for the north and the swamp. Toph would sometimes stay with me at the swamp every now and again. Me and Toph should be the last to arrive at the air temple, I couldn’t take a break until yesterday, and Toph was still with her parents until yesterday. It wasn’t like we could just pack up and leave, when we still had plans. I waterbend at night so we could get there faster but I didn’t want to pass out when we got to the air temple so I needed breaks.  
“How much longer? We are the last ones but try not to be too late.” Toph said  
“We should be there by lunch. Why are you so eager to get there?” I asked. I saw her blush slightly, over the past few years she had developed a crush on Aang and I thought it was cute. Toph never talked about it but it was clear to anyone paying attention.   
“You will see Aang soon enough.” I tease.  
“Yeah and I will, and you’ll see Zuko soon enough too” she says. I saw Zuko once a month ish, and ever since the war he had gotten more handsome. I blush thinking about it. For the rest of the morning I work on my dress, and Toph works more on trying to metal bend a crown. We were going to a party after this vacation and we needed outfits. The swamp holds these parties every year they call it halloween. Where you dress up and try to scare others. Toph and I went every year, we always had these costumes where it started as one costume and then later that night we could change it so it became another. For this year we pick princesses. We would look like what you would think of when you think of princesses, and then at night we would have ‘blood’ stains on the dresses and ‘cuts and bruises’ on our faces, making it look like we came out of a deadly fight. 

“You guys are here” Aang calls from the dock.  
“Took you long enough” Sokka says, as Toph got off the boat. I was talking to the crew so they would know when they had to pick us up.   
“Sis, are you done yet?” Sokka asked.  
“One minute” I call and turn back to the captain. “So five days then Toph and I have to be at the swamp, can you come back in four days?” I ask and she nods. I got off the boat and got pulled into a big group hug.  
“Why do you two have to leave so soon?” Suki asked  
“Yeah you guys are the last ones to come and are going to be the first to leave.” Aang says as we pull apart  
“We have a party to be at. I don’t think one day will be enough time to get there through” Toph says looking at me.  
“Well I’ll make it enough” I say  
“Good luck not passing out at the party then” She says  
“What party? And why were only you two invited?” Sokka said, taking my bags out of my hands.  
“The swamp has this thing they call halloween, and none of you guys are close with the swamp.” Toph says filling them in. We all start walking to the main living room of the temple.  
“Did you two have lunch yet?” Zuko asked, pouring everyone tea  
“Well I did, Toph didn’t” I say.  
“Why? I would have thought that if one of you ate the other one would to” Suki says setting up a pai sho board for the two of us to play.  
“Sugar Queen had a bunch of snacks on the way here. It’s not a proper lunch” Toph says. It was true I snacked a lot but it wasn’t a meal.  
“Well I ate,” I say as I beat Suki.  
“How? That was fast” Suki says as she sets up the board again.  
“Oh Sugar Queen won? She wins almost every game she plays.” Toph comments  
“I play a lot at the north,” I say.  
“Zuko switch with me, you are better at this game then I am” Suki says, as she gets up to go get Toph some lunch. Toph and Sokka talked as Aang watched me and Zuko play. Zuko was good, he played with Iroh a lot and Iroh was one of the best pai sho players around. I played a lot with the elders at the north pole, and with Toph’s dad when I stayed with her. Toph and I spent a lot of time together now. We would spend the winters in Ba Sing Se, the springs at the BeiFongs, summer we split; I went to the north pole, and Toph went to her metal bending school. And falls were spent mostly at the swamp, we both would have meetings in the fire nation throughout the year, and sometimes we would spend extra time working on our own things but most of our year was spent together. I was winning this game, when Suki came out with food.   
“Well no matter what I do you win.” Zuko says  
“Well no.” I say looking at the board  
“How? You have him blocked on all sides” Aang says pointing at the board.  
“Well..” I moved Zuko’s tile and took out all mine, both boys retranced the path to see what I had just done.   
“How did you become so good?” Aang asked.  
“You spend one month playing with the elders at the north pole and see how good you get” I say  
“Don’t forget my dad,” Toph says, throwing a spoon at me.  
“Do you two do everything together?” Sokka asked, picking up the spoon.  
“Well no, but we spend most of our time together.” I say.   
“So when is everyone else leaving?” Suki asks  
“I have one month off, and don’t expect me to have another day off for a long time” Zuko said  
“I have no longer than 3 weeks” Suki said  
“Just under a month before dad needs me back home” Sokka said  
“Well what are we going to do?” Aang asks. Suki looks over at me and Toph and pulls to standing.  
“I am giving you two makeovers” She says and pulls us somewhere, as Toph yells at Aang to save her from this ‘pain’. Once we get there Suki turns on a light and sits me and Toph on the bed.  
“Umm, who’s room are we in?” I ask looking around. There was nothing in it that would tell you who it belonged to.  
“Oh, this is just one of the unused rooms, your room is across the hall, Toph’s room is right beside this one on the right. Sokka and my room is at the end of the hallway, Zuko’s room is on the left of yours. And Aang’s room is on the right of Toph’s.” Suki says, pulling out my ponytail.   
“Who picked our rooms?” Toph asked, still trying to metal bend my crown. She had finished her on the way here now just needed to do mine.   
“Oh, I picked my and Sokka’s room, Zuko picked his and Aang picked his, and they told me to just put your stuff in one of the rooms next to theirs.” both me and Toph blush slightly but Suki caught it. “So let me guess…” Suki started  
“Yes your guess is right I like Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen likes Sparky” Toph says before Suki and can make her guess. My face heated up and I looked over at Toph and hers seemed more red then mine.   
“Well, good thing I picked the rooms I did. So when did this happen? You two need to write more in the letters you send” Suki says moving to untie Toph’s bun. I looked in the mirror at my hair, Suki had done it in a braided headband and tied it with little peril flowers.   
“I don’t know, sometime in the last 2 years. Toph liked Aang since the war” I say, going back to work on my dress, Toph’s dress was done and mine was almost as well.  
“I did not!” Toph yells  
“You know I thought you did too, looks like I was right. Katara are you sure that you only just started to like Zuko? After your life changing field trip you two became really close-” Suki said, my face heated up.  
“And how did your story of fighting Azula go? Zuko jumps in front of LIGHTENING for you, he falls and you fight Azula and as soon as she was in chains you ran over to Zuko desperate to save him. Like you just hoped Azula wouldn’t get out” Toph says smirking. Suki had gone to get Toph and I new clothes after doing Toph’s hair in a waterfall braid and tying it with little metal hearts. Suki comes out with two new outfits, one in blue and black, and one in green.   
“Go change.” Suki ordered. Me and Toph stood up, left our project on the ground and went to the bathroom and changed. I had a v neck blue crop top, with a navy blue zip up hoodie and black leggings. Toph had a green crop sweater, and dark green leggings. We both came out and Suki gave each of us a necklace, bracelet, me a ring and Toph earrings. She also changed it so that now instead of flowers in my hair I had sliver moon and stars, my necklace had a moon charm, the bracelet had stars all over it, and the ring was Tui and La, all in sliver. Toph had badger moles on her necklace and bracelet, and her earring was the earth bending sign.   
“Good, now we go,” Suki says walking out the door.  
“Where are our projects?” Toph asks  
“Oh I moved them all outside so you can finish them and talk with everyone.” Suki comes back and pulls Toph and I back into the sitting area. I spot the two dresses and go sit by them and try to sort out the tangled mess that they become. And Toph sat by the twom crowns, and resent hers back into shape.   
“Nice looks,” Sokka says walking into the room. Aang and Zuko both followed, Aang went to sit beside Toph and Zuko came to sit across from me. I heard Toph suck in a breath as Aang looked at the crowns.   
“Wow these are really nice” Aang says  
“Suki how did you- never mind got it” I say as I figure out how Suki managed to get dresses tangled together. Then I go back to putting the final touches on my dress.   
“How long did these take you?” Zuko asks me.  
“Only about three days” I say  
“Hey Sugar Queen pass over my dress, I need to ‘see’ how the crown will look with it” Toph says holding up her crown and bending mine over to me.  
“I can take it over to her if you want,” Zuko says, and I push over the ones that Toph and Zuko takes it over to her. I see Suki shoot me a look and I blush slightly. Zuko comes back and Suki and Sokka are having their own conversion, and same with Toph and Aang.   
“So, how had the north pole been?” Zuko asks as he sits back down.  
“It’s been a pain. I hate the elders there, not to mention Hann. He sucks still.” Hann was still a jerk which made my visits feel like kho’s hideout.  
“Oh? What's wrong with him?” Zuko asked  
“He’s a jerk. Arnook wanted me to marry him, not ever going to happen. The elders made this speech about arranged marriages and I had to ‘kindly’ remind them that I was a master water bender and could kill them all any second, as well that I was part of the southern tribe and could marry who I wanted.” Kindly was a big fat lie, I almost broke down the palace from my anger.  
“Kindly?” Zuko asked knowing  
“Well I almost destroyed the palace, so yes kindly” We laughed, my stomach was flipping. Why can’t I have a normal talk with Zuko anymore without feeling like I was going to explode.   
“Well that would have told them to stop making things out of ice”   
“Now that you mention it I should have destroyed the palace” I say thinking how that really would scare them. I finished my dress and lifted it up to see the full thing, I loved it. It was a royal blue with silver stars all over it and a beaded neckline, with lots of small diamonds broken up to form a waistline, and it went perfect with the crown. The crown was silver with a moon in the center that was finished with big diamonds, it was very different from Tophs, where mine was dark with light highlights, Toph’s was light with dark highlights. Her dress was a light green with emeralds along the neckline and jade forming vines all over her dress, I made her dress so that it had an open back and it was a ballgown, her crown was gold and the pattern was like vines growing around the headband. I still liked mine more, it has a deep v neckline and was form fitting. Both dresses had a layer under it that was ripped and stained red, so later on in the night we would just wear the dresses inside out. I loved halloween, we could dress up in fancy clothes for something that was actually fun and not a party with stuck up nobles.   
“Wow, it’s amazing, but didn’t Toph say that the point was to scare others?” Zuko said looking at the dress  
“Well that’s why I made these by hand.” I said flipping the dress inside out, and showing the torn stained side and I clipped the ‘cuts’ so you couldn’t see the other side.  
“Now that is cool” Sokka says from the other side of the room  
“Wow. Toph does your do something similar?” Suki asked. Toph nodded and handed me the dress to turn inside out and cilp the ‘cuts’.  
“Wow, when did you learn to do that?” Aang asked  
“Four years ago. When we first went to the halloween party, we have become known for two sided costumes.” I say  
“Yeah, we’ve done animals-zombie animals, day-night, and ocean-land” Toph says. “The only thing with these is that they need to be opposites, this year alive and dead. Now we’re running out, we still have water-fire, earth-air, and rich-poor but other than that we don’t have anything else.”   
“Not true. What about angel-devil” Sokka says  
“Yeah, when you figure out how to make the wings, tail and halo work let me know. I spend all year designing to make sure that it will work” I say. Toph and I had gone over that one but I couldn’t make it work.  
“What about ancient-modern, bitter-sweet, black-white, dull-bright, dangerous-safe, loose-tight,” Zuko said  
“Or new-old, peace-war, real-fake, sweet-sour, basic-complicated, yin-yang” Aang added. I thought about it, most could work.   
“Okay write them down, I’ll see” I said handing them a sheet of paper. Toph leaned over and asked me if the swamp benders would hate it if we bought more people to the party.  
“No they wouldn’t” I whisper back.  
“Hey why don’t you four come with us this year?” Toph said.  
“Sure but we would need costumes” Suki pointed out.  
“I have extra fabric and I am sure I can work with some of the clothes you bought” I said.  
“Okay so what would our theme be?” Sokka asked just as Suki and Aang ran out to grab everyone's clothes.   
“Sokka and Suki, bitter-sweet, Aang and Zuko basic-complicated,” Toph said. Of course for Zuko and Aang she picked the theme that would be the hardest.  
“Okay here are all the clothes you can work with, do you want me to help you?” Suki asked as she and Aang dumped a pile of clothes in front of me.  
“Can you do your own? You are bitter-sweet, Aang and Zuko’s will take a long time” I say starting the sketch designs. For bitter it would have a green theme with all the edges cut sharp, and sweet is going to be a yellow/pink color theme, and it would have gems formed like candy on it. For basic just a black suit, and for complicated it would be gems, fancy sewing and cuts, and bright colors. I lifted the paper and showed them.  
“Nice,” Aang says  
“Okay, Toph headpieces for them, two each for Suki and Sokka and one each for Aang and Zuko, silver for the boys and gold for Suki. Suki your doing your own dress as well as you are figuring out makeup and hair. Aang help Toph with the headpieces, and you two are helping Suki and I” I say and tose the drawing to Aang. Suki and I could figure it out on our own. Suki starts by taking their measurements while I sort through all the clothes to see what I could use. For Suki's starting point it would be a green tank top, and one of Toph’s skirts. Sokka’s starting point was a green robe and black dress pants. Aang and Zuko had no starting point, all the clothes that could have worked just would have just ripped or fallen apart when sewing so for them I had to start from nothing. I drew out the lines and had Zuko cut them out for me as I went to do the other ones. I started with Aangs mostly because it would be the smallest so I could see how it looked. I did only the top first then did Zuko’s top and then I sewed the lining for Sokka’s. By then Zuko had made dinner and everyone stopped and ate. Toph was almost done with Suki’s gold so it was easy for Toph to bend into shapes, Suki had one side of her dress done so now I had to do the rest. Sokka had all the gems glued into the shapes I needed and layed out on my desk in my room. After dinner I finished all the lining and the other side base for Suki’s dress. Toph was done Suki’s two headpieces, and started Sokka’s, and Suki was playing around with makeup. By 10 everyone was asleep, it was a long day, but if all the costumes were to be done in time I needed to stay up. I didn’t mind, it was almost the full moon tonight so all of this week I won’t be able to sleep so I will be working on the costumes. By the time I needed to sleep I had both sides of Aang and Zuko’s done. I turned in planning how much I needed to work each day. I had 4 day here and one day on the ship, Aang can waterbend us there, we won’t be taking Appa so that I could work more on the costumes and we could get ready in the ship and sleep there too. I needed one set of base, and six pattern sets done so each day I needed to get done at 2-3 done each day so I have one day for touch ups.   
When Suki came to wake me up it was right after they all had breakfast so about 8. I get up and start the base for Sokka’s costume. By lunch I had all the bases done, so now was to do the fun and hard part. Suki made lunch, and by now Toph and Aang had all the headpieces done so now the rest was all up to me. Suki had figured out the make up for sweet and basic, and the hair for basic. After lunch I headed back to my room where there was paper and fabric all over the floor and gems all over the bed and desk. I sat down by the window and started on Aang’s costume.   
“Hey, oh wow this is a mess. You need help?” Zuko said opening the door and coming to sit at the table that I had put all my other stuff, mine and Toph’s costume, and snacks.  
“Nah I am good” I say just as I poke myself with the needle.   
“Well I am stealing some food”   
“That's fine, can you pass me the sheet of paper on the desk?” Zuko gives me the sheet of paper that had had all the measurements on it  
“So what’s with all the new designs?” Zuko said looking around at the mess that is my room.  
“Well the costumes need to be scary, and the ones I had before didn’t do it for me, so I needed to redo them.” I said as I recounted stitches on Aangs suit.   
“And how did this room end up like this? You could at least get rid of the designs you don’t need”  
“Well I don’t have just one design that I like, I like different parts from all the designs. So I need to be able to find them, like I said yesterday I usually spend one year to find a design that I like and then make it at Toph’s house a week before the party. I go through hundreds of sketches, I don’t have time to do that right now, so this is how I am doing it this year.” I say moving on to the other side of the jacket.   
“Well what do you like about each one, I’ll help you put it on one sheet of paper and clean up this mess.” Zuko said, grabbing all the sheets from across the room.   
“Fine, but the room will end up like this anyways.” I tell him everything I like from each of the sketches, and when I am done Zuko showed me the end result. “You're a good drawer” I say moving on to Aang's pants.   
“Thanks. I need something to do when I’m at meetings” he said laughing   
“Okay can you put this beside the black top on the bed and grab me the black top on the chair by the desk?” I say and hand him the finished jacket.  
“Why do you have fabric everywhere?” He says walking over to the desk  
“Well I need a way to tell yours and Aang’s apart, I really don't have time to redo things, and Suki’s needed to be slightly bigger, so I need to fix that tomorrow.” I say as I eat another one of the butter cookies from the table.   
“Well, you could just put a piece of paper with our names on it to tell them apart and can’t you tell size wise?” He says coming to sit back down.  
“Well in the daylight but I also work at night, the party is on the full moon and it’s not that far away so I can’t sleep so I stay up and work.” I say counting to stitches that I just made.  
“Okay, do you want to sit on a chair? Or are you happy on the floor.” Oh, I forgot that I was sitting on the floor. I prefer to work on a bed or desk so when I can’t I sit on the floor so I can rest the part that I’m not working on without having to keep it from falling off.   
“No I’m good, can you go get Aang in here I need him to try these on.” I say as I move onto Zuko’s top. I had done most of the work for Aang’s now. I just needed to see how they fit so I could add the ‘blood’ and the cuts. He left and I was alone with my thoughts again.   
“Okay I- Wow Toph was right you really do have the messiest room.” Aang says walking in  
“It was worse before I helped clean it up” I hear Zuko say.  
“Zuko take this and make the ‘blood’ for me,” I say, handing Zuko a sheet of paper that has the recipe for the fake blood I have been using for years. “Aang your costume is in the middle of the bed can you try it on and show me how it fits?” I say pointing at the costume as I go back to Zuko’s top. Zuko left and Aang took the costume and changed in the bathroom.  
“This is great Katara,” Aang said as he walked out. It fit perfectly, which was good to know.   
“Great, nothing too tight? Cause when I cut it and stain it won't stretch anymore.” I say.   
“Nope” Aang says.  
“Wow, you really work fast,” Zuko said, coming into the room with the fake blood.  
“Okay, Aang change back” I say going back to finishing Zuko’s top. It took so much longer than I thought it would be then again I was doing other things at the same time. When Aang came out I took the costume and headed outside to do the staining. I pour the fake blood all over the costume and then take a pair of scissors and start making some small cuts and then I rip the costume by hand and wipe off the blood.  
“How's that?” I say holding it up to show Zuko  
“Looks like someone died wearing that” He says  
“Good, can you grab me the glue and the gems in the bag on the bed?” I ask and he nods. I feel bad that I’m making him have to run around to get things for me.   
“So what are you going to do with these?” He asks as he hands me the glue and the little bits of quartz.  
“They're going to look like shattered glass” I say and start gluing the quartz onto the costume. “And that’s one done, now 2 more to do”   
“2?”   
“Well your’s is half done and Suki’s is half done. So ½ +½+1=2” I say and leave everything out in the sun and go back to working on his suit. I was half way done with his jacket, so I went back to sitting on the floor and sewing.  
“Does this not hurt your hands?” Zuko asked  
“Well have you seen how many times I poke myself with the needle? Yes but it's more like a pinch so it hurts for a second and that's it. That's also why I have a bowl of water on the floor with me” I say   
“I’m going to go make dinner, I’ll call you when it’s done” I nod and he leaves. I get time to finish the jacket before Zuko comes to get me for dinner. When I am done I go and heal my hand and then go back to sewing.  
“You never stop do you?” Zuko asks, walking in.   
“Don’t you have other things to do?” I ask. This is his break as well as mine and just because I have to spend all of my time sewing doesn’t mean he should waste his time.  
“Well I really don’t want to have Suki putting makeup on me, and Toph and Aang are spending time together and I don’t want to know what they're doing, so no” I let out a little laugh.  
“Well good to know Toph and Aang are spending time together Toph couldn’t wait to see him again”   
“Well good to know because Aang couldn’t stop talking about Toph before you guys came”   
“Ow. I think they would be really cute together” I say as I drop the needle onto my leg.  
“You should take a break. You spend all day working on it, you’ll finish in time don’t worry.” He says  
“Well I’m done yours, so I’ll take a break after I do the blood and cutting, now go change.” I say handing him his costume. Two out of four costumes are done and Suki’s is half way done. So I might as well take a break.   
“This fits wonderfully. Most of the tailors don’t do this good of a job for the first time.” Zuko says as he steps out. The suit was meant to be very form fitting, but I forgot how toned Zuko was so the suit was perfect.   
“Thanks, nothing too tight right?” I ask  
“Nope”  
“Okay change back” I say, having to pull my eyes off him. It feels weird. I used to watch him and Aang fire bend every morning and then they had their shirts off, now Zuko is fully clothed and I still feel the heat rising to my cheeks. It might be because he’s wearing the clothes I made for him, or because of what he said. Zuko came out and we stepped outside to stain and rip the costume.  
“You're really good, it feels great and it fits perfectly. Most of the royal tailors can’t do as good of a job as you” Zuko said  
“Thanks comes from a lot of practice, now what do you want to do?” I ask putting the costume away.   
“What about a walk over by the dock?” I nodded. We were at the southern air temple so we had to go down the mountain, but I didn’t mind.  
“What will you be doing after the party?” Zuko asked once we got to the bottom of the mountain.  
“Well Toph wanted me to help her with something in Ba Sing Se, and I told Iroh I would visit soon, so I’ll be spending some time there. Not sure when I’ll leave, most likely a week before the next big meeting then I will need to talk with the north. What about you? You have a month off”   
“I might stay here with Aang some more or go spend time with uncle” So we might be going to the same place, I thought  
“Well how have you been?” I asked   
“Well other than council I’ve been great.”   
“What’s wrong with the council?” I asked, Zuko never complained about his council.  
“Well most fire lords have a wife within 2 years of being crowned, and they’re trying to set me up with people. But unlike uncle they don’t know anything about me, so all the ‘date’ end really badly”   
“Well I wish there was something I could do about that” I want to do something about that.   
“What about you? You mentioned Hann but has your dad or Sokka tired anything?”   
“Ha have you met Sokka, unless he 100% trusts the boy no boy is allowed within a ten feet of me at home. At the north pole all the men there are either scared of me, hate me, or don’t think that I would be a good housewife and their right. The north let's women fight but they are still expected to be a housewife, and I never agree to that.”   
“Well I’m not surprised, you travel all year with Toph.”   
“It’s not that I don’t want to stay in only one nation, it’s more just I need freedom, and right now with Toph I have it, but I am planning to stay in one place more. Not sure where but for sure not the north pole.”   
“But aren’t you their rep? You kind of need to know what's happening there if that's your job”   
“Well I’ve been talking with Arnook and he says that if I want to leave I can, so long as I visit once a year.” Arnook wanted me to take over leadership of the north pole but he noticed how much happier I was when talking about an upcoming trip, or just staying somewhere else, so he’ll let me leave but I need to visit once a year to show the women new healing tricks and combat moves.  
“What will you do then?”  
“Well that depends on where I’m staying, if I go back home, it’s more teaching and healing. If I stay with Toph it’ll be healing everyone she hurts everyday. I won’t be staying at the swamp through, I love it there and I think I still will go for halloween but it’s so disconnected from everywhere else.” I really haven’t given it much thought  
“Well let's head back, let's get late” Zuko said and we walked back up the path Toph and Aang made.   
“Well I’m going back to work” I say walking to my door, but then Zuko grabs my hand and stops me. I turn around to face him.  
“Can I stay?” he asks, shyly   
“Why not, but just know I stay up really late” I say and open my door and go back to sewing in the moonlight. I was trying to push away my thoughts of why Zuko wanted to stay in my room when he was right beside mine. Did he like me? Most likely not. But was there a chance? I somehow ended up finishing Sokka’s jacket in no time, how? I didn’t even want to know.  
“How much have you done?” Zuko asked, Tui, I forgot he was here. He was still here.   
“Just finished the jacket I am going to change '' I say and go into the bathroom and change into my nightgown. Zuko was still here, it wasn’t that last but everyone else was for sure asleep, why was he still here? Did he need something and was just waiting so that I wasn’t sewing to ask? I walked out and he was still there.  
“Are you finishing it tonight?” He asked  
“Maybe, did you need something?” I asked  
“Yes…” He leaned over and kissed me, I kissed back without thought. I was kissing Zuko! He liked me, he really did like me! I was going to explode. We pulled apart, and it felt like a dream.  
“Want to stay the night?” I ask  
“Sure” this was a dream, it had to be. Or maybe I was going insane. We cleared off the bed and even though I would stay up later I really wanted to find out if this was real or not. Zuko took off his shirt and climbed in. I rested my head on his chest and in no time at all his arms were around me and we fell asleep. I was going to wake up and find out that this was a dream.  
I woke up and found that I was still in his arms, and my hands resting on his bare chest. So it wasn’t a dream.  
“Good morning” He said  
“Good morning” I am still half asleep, I never wake up this early but somehow when I was looking at his golden eyes I didn’t feel sleepy at all.  
“Well I’ll leave you to sleep more” He said   
“No, I am not tired.” I said  
“Well then,” he said before his lips were covering mine again. His kiss was fiery and hot but also there was a softness to it, he tasted like honey. I wanted this moment to go on forever. One kiss led to another that led to another, until Suki came and called us for breakfast.   
“I love you Katara” Zuko whispered into my ear, before starting to get up  
“I love you too, Zuko,” I said as we walked out the bedroom door. Breakfast was quiet, Toph and Aang swapped spots, so Zuko and I were sitting together and Aang and Toph sat together. As soon as we were all done Zuko and I went back to my room to finish the costumes. Zuko was called over by Suki to work on something. So I was left alone but not for long you can’t ever have more than 1 hour of alone time when you're with everyone.   
“Sugar Queen what do I do?!” Toph came and face planted beside me on the bed.  
“What’s wrong?” I asked not to take my eyes off Sokka’s costume.   
“It’s Aang, I don’t know what to do,” Toph said, `` Aang not twinkle toes, oh this can’t be good, or this could be very good.  
“What’s wrong with Aang?”  
“Whenever I’m with him my heart races and I can’t think straight, or feel his heart beat so I don’t even know if he likes me.”   
“So ask.” I don’t know why she’s asking me for love advice, I only kissed Zuko this morning and once last night, if anyone she should be asking Suki.   
“But what if he doesn’t like me and I mess up our friendship?”   
“Why are you asking me? Why not Suki?”   
“Well something happend between last night and this morning, when I came here I could feel his heartbeat and it was louder than your own. So you two worked something out. Now help me do the same” I redded thinking about last night, and poke myself with the needle pretty deep and had to wrap it for now.   
“Well Zuko kissed me first so nothing I can tell you, but you should bring up love somehow when you two talk. Like Zuko and I went on a walk and talked about how his council was trying to find him someone and how before Arnook was doing the same with me. I brought up what I wanted in the future so maybe you should too”   
“Okay, but if something goes wrong I am blaming you” She said and jumped off the bed right as Zuko came in.   
“What did she need? And what happened to your hand?” He asked and came to sit beside me.  
“Toph needs help with Aang and I didn’t have time to heal it, hold this for one second” I say handing him Sokka’s pants and dipping my hand in the bowl of water beside the bed.  
“Funny Aang asked me for help with Toph on my way here”   
“Oh? Well how badly do you think this will go?” I say taking the pants back and finishing it.   
“Well we’ll see. But then we will have three couples in this group.” He said   
“Well what do you think?” I ask holding up Sokka’s costume.  
“I think it’s perfect, just like you.” he said kissing me again.   
“Well now for Suki’s, do you know how to do the staining and ripping?”   
“Yeah, want me to do it for Sokka’s?” He asked, taking the costume from my hands and going to grab the fake blood.   
“You read my mind, I’ll see you later,” I said kissing him again before sitting back on the bed with Suki’s dress to do the sweet side. I just started the beads when Zuko came back, put the costume out to dry and came to kiss me from behind.  
“Well looks who back” I say turning around  
“The dress looks nice. Now I just saw Aang and Toph in the sitting room, so let's see how long this takes.” I went back to sewing on the jews, and Zuko cleaned up everything we no longer needed and within a minute the door was thrown open and Toph jumped on me and knocked me over and Aang pulled Zuko out into the hallway.  
“What do I do now?!”   
“What even happened?” I said pulling Toph off me so I could put the chair back to standing.  
“I did what you told me to do and he kissed me. Now what?!”   
“Whatever feels right. Toph people go at their own pace so now it’s up to you to find yours” I tell her, what else could I tell her? Just than Suki and Sokka came in and Aang and Zuko where behind them  
“What happened, who tried to kill who?” Sokka asked  
“Better question what was that sound?” Suki asked looking outside  
“Oh that was just Toph jumping on me, knocking me and the chair over and herself.” I say.  
“Good. Toph why did you do that?” Suki asked  
“I needed her help” Toph said  
“Are you hurt? Either of you?” Aang asked  
“Not that I can feel but will see tonight” I say.  
“Good now everyone out” Zuko said and everyone left, Sokka gave Zuko a death glare but left.  
“Thank you. What did Aang need?” I asked going back to sewing on the little candy gems.  
“Oh just what to do next, what did Toph need?” he asked, going to sit on the bed.  
“The same as Aang” I say  
“Well are you sure you're okay? Toph can do a lot of damage.” he said  
“Well I feel fine, but that boat should be here sometime tonight, so help me pack this up?” I ask. I was going to do the rest on the boat.   
“What will you be doing until then it’s not even lunch” He asked   
“Well anything you want to do?” I asked  
“What I want can wait until after the party” he says  
“Well then can you go steal some snacks from Suki for me?” I asked   
“Of course” and he was off. It took him long enough that I had 90% of the gems done.  
“Well Suki told me to just give you these,” He said, throwing a bag on the bed. I turned around as he opened it.  
“She will be the best sister in law ever!” I say going through the bag of sweets.  
“Well Aang needed me so see you at lunch” He said kissing my head and leaving. I grab a bag of dried mangos and go back to working on the dress, I finished and got all the staining and ripping done before lunch, so I decide to go talk with Suki. I found her in the kitchen, Toph was in her own room, and the boys were somewhere.  
“Suki, thanks for the snacks. Where are the boys?” I ask, washing my hands to help her with the cooking.  
“No problem. They are having the ‘talk’ with Aang. And Sokka might be wanting to kill Zuko, but that's something else. No tell me about you and Zuko.” She says passing me everything that needed to be cut.   
“Well we’re together now. It kind of started last night,” I say trying not to cut my hand  
“What happened last night?” She asked  
“He asked to stay with me for the night and we both ended up falling asleep together, in my bed” I say   
“Well you two move fast. Well let’s hope everyone still has an appetite for lunch.” Suki says  
“So how did the ‘talk’ come up?” I asked  
“Well he asked Zuko what to do next, and Sokka came and said just talk with her, and Aang asked when could he sleep with Toph. Sokka said after a year, Aang said that Zuko was sleeping with you, and both Zuko and Sokka reddened. You should have seen it. Anyways, Zuko cleared up what Aang ment that you two only shared a bed, not the other sleeping with someone. Aang asked why sleeping with someone was so bad and boom now their outside trying to explain and Toph is trying to forget what she just heard.” Suki says as we bring all the food out.  
“Want me to bring them back in?” I asked knowing that Suki wouldn’t want to hear any of the ‘talk’   
“Please I’ll get Toph” So we split. I went outside and saw a stick get thrown into the air and ran over and found a very confused Aang, a red Zuko and a embersader Sokka. I had to laugh. It was so funny.  
“Boy’s lunch’s ready” I called  
“Thank angi,” Zuko said and got up and walked back to the temple.  
“No wait we need to finish this” Sokka said and pulled him back down.  
“Sokka you can do it on the ship, come after lunch we pack the boat should be here soon” I say and water bend a staircase for them.  
“Fine” Sokka says and runs back into the temple.  
“So where did you two get to?” I ask, I didn’t find this gross  
“You don’t want to know” Zuko said  
“Wait what wa-” Aang started but Zuko cover his mouth  
“No, you will learn on the ship” Zuko said, and Aang raced into the temple  
“So want to tell me what happened?” I asked, smirking at Zuko.  
“On the boat, when we have some privacy” Zuko says as we walk into the dinning room.  
“Katara, Toph wants a fight so go give her one” Suki says  
“Why me?” I ask I just sat down  
“Because I don’t stand a chance in her room where she has metal” Suki said sitting down  
“Fine” I get up and go down the hallway to find Toph sitting on her bed  
“What do you want, Sugar Queen?” Toph said  
“What’s wrong?” I asked  
“I don’t know,” I go and sit down beside her and let her lean up against me and cry. Toph never cried.  
“Shhhh, it’s okay. Want lunch in here?” I asked  
“Yes and can you stay?” I nodded and went to call Suki to bring our food in here. Later Suki came and dropped off food and left. After both Toph and I were done, I asked again  
“What’s wrong?”   
“Something, I feel like I’m trying too hard and that I’m no longer myself.”  
“Well if that's what you feel then maybe you are trying too hard. Don’t ever change yourself just for someone else. If Aang doesn’t love you for who you are that’s his lost, I think your great Toph. You always have so much self confidence, never lose it. Now I have to go pack, and so do you. The ship should be here by now, maybe spend more time with Suki while we’re on the ship.” She nods and I get up, take the dishes and leave. I go clean the plates then head back to my room and start packing my stuff first. Just as soon as I was done with my things Suki comes in.  
“Hey, is Toph okay?” Suki asks, moving my things to the door and helps me with all the costumes.   
“Yeah, she just feels lost, can you spend time with her on the boat? I already asked Zuko to tell me about the ‘talk’ and Sokka should finish the ‘talk’ with Aang.”   
“Of course, and maybe you or I should take over the ‘talk’ something about lunch tells me Sokka couldn’t get it out and Zuko wasn’t any better” The two of us laughed, this was going to be one fun boat ride.  
“I’ll do it. I do it all the time at the north pole.” She nods and takes my bags and leaves, just as Zuko comes in.  
“Well hello, need some help?” He asks  
“Yes, Suki took the rest of my bags, it's just everyone's costumes” I say handing him Aang, Sokka and his costume.  
“Do they all need their own bag?” He asked as we headed down to the doak where the ship was already there and waiting for us.   
“Well I would prefer to spend most of the ride with you and not fix them” I say as we get on the boat and I show him to my room on the ship.   
“Good, now I should go find Sokka and Aang.”   
“I am coming, Suki told me it was clear neither of you can spit it out so I’ll do it”   
“Thank you” He said, kissing my cheek. We found them in the private sitting room.  
“Okay Sokka unless you are actually going to do it, shut up and let me talk” I say. After that, Zuko and I went back to my room, and Aang was left asking questions to Sokka.  
“Thank you for that” Zuko says kissing me  
“Well now that it’s done you will be telling me about the one Sokka and you tried to have” I said pulling out a bag of dried strawberries.   
“Well Sokka likes to compare sex and body parts to games and toys,” He said falling down onto the bed in the middle of the room.  
“Yeah that's all I want to hear” I said, I really didn’t want to think about what Sokka used as examples.   
“Good, now what do you want to do?” He asked  
“Well we’re going to visit Iroh later so maybe we should send him a letter”   
“Good idea” he said getting up, we both headed to the desk and wrote our letter. When we sent it off it was dinner. Everyone asked for dinner in their room, and so did we.  
“Well what do you think Sokka and Aang are talking about?” Zuko asked as we ate  
“Do we want to know?”   
“Good point”   
“Well I’m staying up late to bend us to the swamp faster”   
“Make Aang do it, you stay here with me tonight” Zuko says finishing his plate   
“Then that means we have to find him” I say cleaning off my own plate  
“Well let’s go,” Zuko said, standing up and grabbing the dishes. It was easy to find Aang all the crew knew where they were just from the sounds that Aang was making at whatever Sokka was saying. We walked in on Sokka telling Aang about why his penis gets hard, it was something I never wanted to hear.  
“Well when you two finish your talk Aang your water bending tonight” Zuko said staying as close to the door as he could without it looking rude.  
“Why? Sis I thought you were going to be doing it” Sokka asked raising his eyebrow at Zuko  
“Well I have a life too, so you can leave me and him alone. Aang just go straight and go until you feel tired then stop and go sleep okay?”   
“Yes, I got it,” Aang said. And Zuko and I left as fast as we could.  
“So it’s only 10, anything you want to do?” I asked, I could feel the moon, it was almost full meaning that there was a very small chance I would be getting a full night's sleep.   
“How long have you loved me?”   
“Long enough. You?”   
“Too long,” he said and kissed my forehead.   
“You should get some sleep tomorrow is the party and it’s the full moon too. So the swamp benders will be up late and so will I.”   
“Fine. But only this once” he says as he falls asleep in my arms. I close my eyes and feel the water around us. I slowly help the push and pull to give us some extra speed we’ll need it tomorrow. My thoughts are filled with memories from during the war. Everything was so nice and peaceful that even though it was early for a water bender to go to sleep with the full moon so near, I ended up giving into sleep.   
When I woke up the next morning my head was resting on Zuko’s chest and just as I opened my eyes breakfast came in.  
“Good morning, want some?” Zuko asked kissing me as I sat up  
“Morning, yes please. Best morning ever” I say as I take some of Zuko’s food  
“If you come back to the fire nation with me this will never change”   
“Than you’re coming with me first to tell Arnook that I won’t be returning to the north”   
“Fair”   
“I love you” I say   
“I love you too,” He says. Well it was noon and we were at the edge of the swamp, so now everyones in my room and we were getting ready for the party. Suki was doing my hair and I was doing Toph’s makeup, while the boys changed. My hair was in a high ponytail so that the crown would stay, Suki curled some of the hairs that framed my face and dyed the tips of my hair a bluish teal. I was doing Toph’s makeup, it was a full face of makeup and her eyeshadow was gold and very bold,and I gave her a ruby red lipstick. Then Suki did Toph’s hair and I did my own makeup. Mine was the same as Toph’s just blue and silver eyeshadow with a black winged eyeliner. I put on the same ruby red lipstick and went to change, Toph followed and not too long after Suki did too. We all changed and headed out to help the boys with their looks.   
“You guys look amazing,” Zuko said. Suki told me what she had planned and I did Zuko and Suki did Aang and Sokka. Only Sokka needed his hair done, I just dyed the tips red so they looked like blood.  
“Let’s go” I said and walked off the ship and into the swamp and followed the water that led me right to the swamp benders.  
“Hey, it’s Katara and Toph” Huu called  
“Hey guys” I said  
“We brought company, this is Sugar Queen's brother and soon to be sister in law, her boyfriend, and Aang” Toph said  
“Okay let's get this party started” Huu called out. I led our group over to a quiet spot to talk with everyone.  
“Okay so everyone stay with at least one other person, and once the drinks start flowing go change and scare some of them” I say everyone nods and we head out. Sokka went with Aang and Suki went with Toph, and Zuko and I stayed together.  
“So want food?” I asked  
“Why not. You look beautiful tonight” He says as I lead him towards the food.   
“You're not looking too bad yourself” I said, placing a kiss on his cheek. We both grab a plate and fill it with food and go sit down.  
“Yo, Katara. How have you been?” Huu asks  
“I’ve been good. So what's been going on here?” I asked  
“Oh you know nothing new. So who’s this?” Huu asks motioning to Zuko  
“This is fire lord Zuko” I said  
“Nice to meet you, well I hope you like the party and come back next year.” Huu said  
“That you I will” Zuko said and Huu left to find Toph  
“Want to help come with me and help Sokka not get wasted?” I said spotting Sokka and Aang over by the drinks. It was too early to be getting drunk.  
“Sure,” Zuko said, giving me a hand to stand up. We walked over to Sokka and Aang.  
“Sokka you need to stop,” I say taking the drink out of his hand. It was a drink that was very strong and could get you drunk very fast if you're not careful, I remember the first time Toph and I came here and Toph got so drunk that all she did was cry and talk about Aang.  
“Sis I’m fine dad gives me drinks all the time” Sokka said clearly we were too late.   
“Well then tomorrow when you can’t get up I won’t be healing your headache.” Sokka brushed me off and took another deep sip.  
“Aang want to stay with us?” Zuko asked, looking over at Sokka that was swaying back and forth.  
“Yeah just keep me away from Toph please” Aang said and we headed over to a sitting area  
“So can you tell us what happened with you two?” Zuko asked. Sliding an arm around my waist.   
“I don’t know. One minute she’s laughing and making fun of me and the next she’s quiet and seemed uncomfortable” Aang said looking at the ground  
“Well do you like her?” I asked. Aang redend, that was my answer  
“Ummm… yes” he said. I look around to find Suki pulling Toph somewhere to change.  
“Well forget about whatever happened, let's go change and have a good time” I say and the two boys follow me to the bathrooms, pulling Sokka over with us. I go to find Suki and Toph and leave the boys alone.   
“So how has your night been?” I asked   
“We have been having a great time the people here are so fun” Suki said  
“Well last halloween party was better” Toph said under her breath. She and Aang really need to talk but not now, not here.   
“Forget about him, Toph. I bet you me and Zuko will win the scariest costumes this year” I say as I redo my makeup.   
“Oh no you're not. That will be me and Sokka” Suki said, pulling out her hair  
“You know Sokka’s really wasted” I point out  
“Well than me and Toph will win this year” Suki said  
“Yeah I win every year” Toph said punching my arm  
“Well we’ll see” I say leaving to find Zuko and Aang. I walked around and found them on the edge of the party talking.  
“Hey boys, you look great” I say  
“Thanks your dress is really cool too” Aang said  
“Well let's go scare people. I have a bet with Toph and your helping me” I say dragging them with me as we head into the shadows. The rest of the night was jump scares, I even managed to get Toph.  
“Boo!” I say pinching Toph  
“Ahh- what the. How did you do that?” Toph asked. I got her. It took 4 years but I did it. Even if I didn't win the title I still won.  
“Like I said I’m winning this year” I say and leave her with Suki again. Later when they were about to call the winner I got Suki. But it came at a cost. I ended up getting punched in the arm.  
“Sorry, Katara” Suki said  
“It’s fine. I got you through. This must be my best year, I got you, Toph, Aang and Huu” I say, I got them and a lot of others.   
“This year we will be giving two awards, one for the scariest costume and another for the coolest costume” Huu calls from the center of the party.   
“Well this will be fun” Toph whispered to me. Indeed, if any of our group got the coolest costume it would be my award, I did make all of them.   
“Winner for coolest costume, Katara. And the winner of the scariest goes to her brother, Sokka.” Huu called and Suki needed to help Sokka get his prize, he really did look like some sort of swamp monster. The swamp is filled with so many special things that you can’t find anywhere else, and they made great prizes. This year it was a flower crown made from flowers that change color depending on the heat and environment. After the prizes were given out Suki, Sokka, Aang, Toph and most of the non benders went to sleep. Zuko and I went back to the ship but stayed up. I felt the moon call and Zuko wanted to stay up with me.   
“Well that was really fun. The first bit was not so much but once everyone started trying to scare everyone else it became the best party ever” Zuko said, as we stood together looking across the ocean.   
“Well, you did say you wanted to come back next year so good thing you enjoyed it” I said leaning against him  
“We need to tell uncle about this”   
“We will. Now let's go to bed” I said, Zuko looked over at me raising his good eye brow.   
“I thought it was the full moon?”   
“Who said I wanted to sleep?” I asked. And within minutes we were back in my room. This halloween was something I was never going to forget.


End file.
